Trip Preparation 2019

We are looking forward to heading north again this year. We are travelling by ourselves this year, although we loved travelling with friends last year. Hopefully we will travel with Phil and Sandra again soon. Our 2014 Iveco Daily 50C21 dual cab is proving to be a worthwhile purchase. The extra carrying capacity is a real bonus. The ability to carry a chainsaw and about 3 days supply of firewood for the firepot is a real bonus. (I do love my firepot) . An ATM upgrade of the 5th wheelers weights will prove another valuable upgrade, an extra 500kg of carrying capacity, hopefully we won’t be anywhere near the new ATM of 4000kg. Keeping things legal has always been a high priority for me and now I do not have to be so careful about those little extras.

Our weights are all good, Iveco weighs 4250kg with half a tank of diesel and one person on board, we are allowed 4490kg. The 5th wheeler weighs in fully loaded at 3710kg, we are now allowed 4000kg and 3100kg over the axles, we are allowed 3300kg. All up weight is 7350kg, well under the 7790kg allowed on a car licence, we could add another 700kg if I upgraded the Iveco to a light truck registration.

The Silo Art Trail will play a small part in where we plot our course towards Queensland. Benalla will be one of the first stops to view some street art, Goorambat, Devenish and Tungamah all have some Silo Art. This should fill in the first day. We will be heading to Bingara to catch up with friends for a couple of days. This will allow us to visit several more examples of Silo Art, allowing us to follow another way north away from the Newell Hwy.

Both the Iveco and the Ultima have been polished to make them shine. The Iveco has had a service, I’ve also given the 5th wheeler a grease and adjusted the brakes, so hopefully we will have a trouble free trip to Queensland and return.

Dianne has about 15 precooked frozen meals in the freezer and 10kg of Tassie potatoes. We took 5kg last year and they only lasted about half the trip, so we doubled up this year. After eating Tassie spuds, it’s easy to realise how spoilt we are when we have to eat “mainland” spuds, there is just no comparison.

The weather leading up to our departure has been good and allowed us to leave the gardens all neat and tidy. Hopefully the lawns won’t need mowing for 6 weeks until we return. Hopefully we will have an incident free trip.

The Iveco and 5th wheeler have been weighed at the local weighbridge.

Westbury

Another weekend getaway with a small group of friends for a couple of nights gave Dianne and I a chance to explore another small town in northern Tasmania. We have travelled through Westbury numerous times and hardly even give it a second look. Westbury has long been bypassed by a highway upgrade. We decided we needed to stop and see what Westbury has to offer. A fantastic place to spend a couple of days, only one problem, the free camp in the middle of town is about to close. The Meander Valley Council has been forced into this decision by a  “competitive neutrality” ruling that stop it providing free camping in direct competition with caravan parks. The problem is there is no caravan park close by around Westbury, so the local businesses suffer and campers have been stopped from staying in a lovely location right in the middle of an interesting little town. As a side note the Meander Valley Council has referred the decision to close its free camps for review before they make any decisions

Westbury is relatively flat and the group enjoyed a couple of walks around the old Bass Highway, now renamed the Meander Valley Highway, as well as a small shopping centre, the Village Green and the Town Common.

Westbury has lots of interpretive signs around the town

Dianne has purchased a new electric Leitner Libelle folding bike. Hopefully this will compliment our camping setup and help us keep fit. While it is an electric bike, the Leitner Libelle has several pedal assist modes ranging from no assistance with pedalling only through to full electric operation. The aim of the electric bike is to use the electric capabilities to hilly sections and also use low assistance to increase the distance we are able to cover while still enjoying ourselves and increasing our fitness levels at the same time. Five of us enjoyed a bike ride around Westbury, two of us on electric bikes , while  the other three had to rely solely on pedal power. It was Dianne’s first ride on the electric bike other than around the back yard at home. By the time we finished our ride, she was getting the hang of the controls and easily able to match the power levels of the electric motor to the gradients that we encountered on our trip around the back streets of Westbury.

Exploring on bikes has opened up another side of sightseeing the parks and streets of small towns that we visit. It also keeps us just a bit fitter.

A couple of us also ventured along the road to Pearns Steam World, a very comprehensive array of steam engines and vintage farm machinery.

Lots to take in here for anyone interested in vintage machinery

Photo borrowed from website as lighting a little dull for me to get a good shot

 

Deloraine

Another weekend off and we are off to Deloraine for a couple of nights. Only 80km from home, so we don’t need to spend hours travelling. A small free camp beside the almost defunct horse racing track. A football ground in the middle is well used but all the horse racing facilities are very run down, probably never to be used again except for some horses that are trained here.

Deloraine has two pedestrian bridges crossing the Meander River providing some picturesque walks along both banks of the river.

A Fifties Diner is a must see in Deloraine. Step back in time at the 50’s diner. Lots of memorabilia inside, old fuel bowsers, oil bottles, records, juke boxes and lots of caricatures and everthing from the fifties and sixties.  Take half an hour to check out all the artifacts around the walls and then have an old fashioned milkshake or spider just to top off the experience.

They even had a life size Betty Boop

Even when we go camping we can’t get out of babysitting duties, they track you down, good thing it is no trouble and only for a few hours.

We even went and checked out another free camp in Westbury, where we plan to head to on my next weekend off. This is the beauty of Tasmania, free and low cost camps. It is just a short drive to the next town and a lots more to check out. The womens cricket were in action here this weekend, we will have to see who is playing next time.

I am always amazed at what people carry on the rear of their caravans that add to unstability and safety of their rig. This week I came across something I had never heard of before, a towbar extension. In my opinion anything that extends the pivot point away from the rear axle has got to decrease the stability of the combination.

A towbar extension just can’t be good for stabilty

We also enjoyed another great meal in a country pub at the Deloraine Hotel. This has become a little bit of a tradition when free camping, get a free camp and spend the money saved in the town. A couple of counter meals and a few drinks shows that we spend some money in the town.

 

Devil Wheelers 1st Anniversary

Its hard to believe, but its 12 months since we started the Devil Wheelers – Tasmania chapter of the CMCA. We created the Devil Wheelers for like minded people to get together throughout the warmer months in Tasmania.

Lots of people from different backgrounds with one common goal, have a good time and make some new friends.

For a full report check out the link below

Secretary’s Report

More later

York Town Watermill Cottage Campsite

Summer has finally arrived and any chance to get away in the 5th wheeler is high on the agenda. Keeping up with my blog is getting harder and harder. Its either going to work or going camping. There is not much spare time.

York Town has a relatively new low cost campsite, so we had to check it out. What a fabulous place, 4 acres of well mown grass, a small lake, plenty of low trees and shrubs for windbreaks, lots of space to lay back and relax without intruding on fellow campers.

Four vans met up for some relaxation, the weather was perfect, the setting was ideal with a communal fire ring , a shelter for when the weather was less than perfect.

Peron Farm Campground

Low cost campgrounds seem to be a growth area in campgrounds and caravan parks. Peron Farm is one such campground still in its infancy. It has a very flat area still being developed , give it 12 months and it will be a great place to spend a few days. A fabulous camp kitchen made out of a shipping container with plenty of shelter if the wind gets up.

Greens Beach, Narawntapu Lookout

A great view of the coast after a short walk to the Greens Beach, Narawntapu lookout was only a short drive from Greens Beach.

Cicadas were making an amazing noise for such a small insect. There must have been thousands of them. You couldn’t see them without searching for them but they certainly made a racket. Apparantly it was mating season

You had to look to spot a cicida as they blended in to their surroundings very well

Gathering around the firepot with fellow vanners is always good. It just caps off a great day and a warm fire is a fantastic place to meet others.

A good fire just brings strangers together

Veronica just had to try the stocks out. Her lovely son in law, Nick thought it would be fun to stick a twig through the latch. Hubby Peter also had to get in on the act, daughter Petrina had the camera ready, I couldn’t help but put the picture on my blog. Good thing Veronica has a sense of humour.

 

 

Cressy Weekend Away

When I’m working I only have every third weekend off. It is a four day weekend, so there are some incentives to keep doing it. The weather has been terrible since we arrived home from our trip to Queensland. This weekend was no different, but we did have a shed with a fire and a bar. What more could you want?

The Devil Wheelers – Tasmania chapter of the CMCA decided to have a get together at a private residence because we needed to keep dry and warm if the weather was not pleasant. Rain, snow and wind were all in the mix. The sun did shine, when we were packing up to come home.

A bit wet and sloppy, but all good solid ground, no one got stuck

Lots of freshly mown grass behind us, but too wet to venture on to it

Garry had a puncture (see photos below) on the way to Cressy but we still found a good solid spot for him

Plenty of places to park

We all had a great time despite the weather

Snow on the mountains, not that far away.

Counter meal at the Cressy Pub

Sticky date pudding to finish off a great meal

A barbie to finish off the weekend before we all head home

Despite the weather we all had a great time. Hopefully our next weekend away at Riana will have a little bit better weather.

More photos and report at Devil Wheelers Tasmania